RV sales have slowed and fewer people are buying RVs. Most costs across the board have risen. RVing is evolving. Has that changed how people are RVing? Are there still some areas that are crowded with campers? Are people more or less content with RVing?
RV Travel readers discuss their experiences and offer tips to help other campers find that perfect spot.
Here are a few observations from our readers. These do not necessarily represent the views of RVtravel.com.
Time for parks to step up to good Wi-Fi
Dave G. is tired of paying premium prices for minimal Wi-Fi. He wrote, “I’m tired of paying more than $150 a night for a site and not having excellent Wi-Fi. We are staying in a corporate RV park in the Florida Keys, where the brochure says to get good internet reception, come close to the office. Really??? It’s a little hard to move my motorhome to the office to watch a movie. Not everybody wants to pay $150 plus every month to have Starlink. Maybe ‘mom & pop’ parks have an issue, but not corporate-owned. Time for these parks to step up.”
Have to work to find the “gems”
Mark W. mentioned that parks are upgrading Wi-Fi. He wrote, “We just booked four months in Florida for next winter. We went to their office at 9 a.m. on the first eligible day to book. They told us we were lucky. We looked at 20 or so resorts. Most were very crowded and in so-so shape. Prices varied from $700 to $7,600 a month. We paid $1,500 a month. Most new parks do not have shade or privacy shrubs. Wi-Fi is been being improved at most parks to offer streaming for TVs. There are some gems out there if you work at finding them.”
Found good, semi-good, and almost non-existent Wi-Fi
Here’s my (Nanci’s) experience with Wi-Fi: We have been RVing for decades, long before the internet was even a thing or Wi-Fi was considered a necessity. (That’s how old we are.) When we started camping with our kids, I would have considered any kind of internet or even phone connection an intrusion. I certainly did not want anything to take away our peaceful camping time.
As the kids grew older, work responsibilities also grew along with the unfortunate ability to be contacted 24/7. I accepted the work cellular phone. In the beginning, there were still a lot of dead zones. I remember standing on the top of our RV in a hollow valley trying to get reception for a scheduled work phone call. Didn’t work.
Then, I wanted Wi-Fi in private RV parks, at least enough for email. Some had robust Wi-Fi, some as slow as dial up and some connections just impossible. I could still fall back on cell data when needed, as cell coverage expanded. My husband and I have different carriers, so we can usually always count on phone connection if not all data connections.
For years, we have used an HDMI cable and adapter to connect our phones to the TV to stream. And usually that does work just fine. Seldom do we have Wi-Fi strong enough to stream on the TV or even on our tablets. As a matter of fact, the check-in handout from a lot of campgrounds usually says something like no streaming, email only. They have even threatened to cut that off if their server detects a lot of use!
We have used a Dish satellite for TV, and the prices keep going up. Now that we are hooked on streaming and fast Wi-Fi, we have given Dish up. Evidently, so have a lot of people—Not only can’t I sell our Winegard Pathway, I can’t even donate it!
Starlink
Enter Starlink, the answer to continually robust Wi-Fi anywhere. Unless, of course, you are under trees or if the signals are obstructed. I decided I needed good Wi-Fi for my writing for RVtravel.com and have been delighted with service so far. Except for the outrageously rising cost! Because it is portable rather than attached to the roof, it is a hassle to set up every night when traveling. So, I usually don’t.
If we didn’t have Starlink, the majority of places we camp would not have good or even any Wi-Fi.
You can read more about my experiences with Starlink here.
What do you think?
What do you do for streaming, email or TV? How important is strong Wi-Fi to you and your RV travels? Please answer below.
Now, some questions for you:
- Are you finding campgrounds booked up or is finding a site not a problem?
- What do you like best about RVing?
- What are your pet peeves?
- Are you seeing more permanent and seasonal RV parks?
- Are rising costs affecting your camping style?
- Do you have favorite campgrounds or RV parks?
- What is the most memorable experience you have had RVing?
- Do you have any tips or secrets you’d like to share?
Please use the form below to answer one or more of these questions, or tell us what you’ve experienced with campground crowding in general.
Read last week’s column: These are the kinds of places RVtravel.com readers like to camp
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My biggest concern while traveling is “cell coverage”. I stop using crappy and insecure CG WiFi years ago because of poor security and exceptionally slow service from too many users hogging all the band width. Since I already have one and am paying for it, I always ended up using my cell phone as a WiFi hotspot. It provide faster and more secure internet service without the need for additional equipment and expenses like Starlink. Problem is there are so many cell “dead zones” especially out west even using different service providers.
I don’t go camping to sit in my RV and stream old TV reruns or crappy movies.
Boycott Starlink.
OOOORRAAHHH
Virtue signaling. I’m sure Elon Musk is feeling your boycott in his wallet…
We have Hotspot. Have always had a good connection. TV is hit or miss. None here at this COE park in the middle of East Texas. Read a book.
We’ve never stayed in a campground that had “good” wifi, and cell service is usually hit and miss. My wife has Verizon and I T-Mobile, but usually neither of us have more than two bars. With the advent of streaming, many campgrounds have done away with their cable TV, over the air TV is generally just old programming, and campground wifi just doesn’t support streaming very well, especially if the campground is busy and especially during the 5pm to 11pm timeframe. We don’t sit in front of the TV much when camping, but we do like to watch in the evenings to catch up on news and weather, and sometimes favorite programming. DISH satellite has been our favorite for TV.
One thing we have discovered about streaming is that the newest smart TV’s seem to handle streaming much better than say a smart TV from four or five years ago. Maybe related to faster processors and more memory for buffering. We recently had to replace one of our two smart TV’s in a Class A. We purchased the latest model smart Samsung that we could. It does a much better job streaming than does our other smart Samsung from four years ago. Both do poorly on really slow wifi. But on decent average wifi, the newest TV does very well.
And all this so called “smart” junk spies on people.
As do our phones.
If technology has that much of a control of you, you need to rethink things. Anyway just finishing up my annual monthlong spring break on the east coast and south and had little to no problem making reservations, kids are mostly in school and the birds are just as happy as me. I did stay in a state park that had free WiFi but won’t disclose any more details than it worked fine and allowed me catch up on my technology homework. And more importantly, they have a good laundry.
We are part-time RVers and neither of our cell phones have good coverage in state parks, where we like to camp. I don’t want to pay for an annual hotspot contract if we aren’t using it each month. We ended up with a TravlFi hotspot and as long as AT&T is available it has worked for us. We can suspend the service when we won’t be using it. I wish we could get a Verizon plan that allows us to pay what we use, but I haven’t found one. Verizon has the best coverage for where we travel but their hotspots have contracts.
Most RV parks/resorts we have stayed at have iffy at best WiFi.
We have constantly upgraded our phones with our Canadian carrier (Rogers) to have about 300GB monthly data which is seamless whether we are in the US or Canada.
We use it with a Firestick if we watch TV or movies without worrying about our data usage.
Isn’t it amazing that we were able to raise our sons to adults with NO cell phones or WiFi? When we took the boys tent camping (which was what “camping” was for most parents our age), they hiked, fished, boated, explored, and played with no connection whatsoever to their friends back in the city. But thsy couldn’t miss what they didn’t have and never even heard of!
Amazing how everyone now seems to need uninterrupted access to phones, WiFi, and TV no matter where they are, even when boondocking miles from the nearest paved road. How times have changed! And not necessarily for the better IMHO.
amen…heaven forbid facebook or tik tok can not be checked on….However, if work needs require the connectivity, I guess that I would give the party in question a pass. When we camp, the phone is available but not in use unless there is an emergency
Good grief, curmudgeon! Times change. Do you ever order from Amazon, instead of buying whatever your local stores stock? Pick from any of 8 “news” channels, instead of only tuning-in to ABC, NBC, or CBS? How about a cell phone? Do you only use a land-line, or better yet, a party-line land-line?
We go for walks when we glamp, but we also avail ourselves of modern conveniences. There are many off-the-grid families, and they likely think your lifestyle is overkill. Our autos do much more than the older cars. Info screens for mapping programs, outside cameras for safety, lane sensors. Tech evolves, and in general, improves our lives. There are tradeoffs, for sure.
We tried to rely on cellular data but even with signal boosters, it’s too hit and miss where we boondocking. RV Park WiFi is just as sporadic and uncertain but worse, less secure. Because of that, we went with StarLink and never looked back. We set up the antenna wherever we park, even if the site says they have WiFi.
When we’re not traveling, we suspend the service. At $165 a month, it isn’t cheap but neither is our fiber optic sticks and bricks internet. Having the ability to do finances, monitor our house, plan routes and do online reservations from anywhere is a nice convenience. Sure, we could use a road atlas, pay with checks and do shadow puppets for entertainment but why?
$150 a NIGHT for a site and cant afford $150 a MONTH for starlink ??? Doesn’t compute
My Starlink Mini is $50 a month for 50gig. I can pay by the gig if I go over 50 or $165 a month for unlimited. I don’t spend a lot of time streaming so $50 works.
I still have Dish at home and my Winegard Pathway. $5 a month for the Pathway. Starlink does provide an easier connection to satellites.
I have the Starlink magnetic mount. I put the antenna on the hitch of my 5th wheel. Easy setup.
We’ve switched to Starlink exclusively, used it for the last year all over North America and Canada. We mounted ours on the roof and only had one campsite that we couldn’t use it. We put ours in a removable mount though so I can easily take it down from the roof if needed. No more fussing with boosters and hoping for a decent cell signal. The major bonus by having it on the roof is we now have internet all the time while traveling down the road. Since our cell phones can use WiFi for calling/texting we have cell service all the time, no dead spots for us!
…all over North America and Canada…
Last I checked, Canada was part of NA. :-/
I have no need for TV or internet when I camp. Isn’t that the point?
The only thing I want to do is text my wife to let her know i arrived safely. If I have no signal, I’ll drive until I find a signal or a pay phone ( yes, they still exist). Usually there will be a town with a signal not too far from where I camp.
Oh, and I will never give one cent of my money to Elon Musk!!
Before I retired, I could do my IT job on the road so high-speed internet for video calls was a must. The only thing that worked reliably for us without data caps was Starlink. We even use it as a backup at home when Google fiber goes out for days. We can connect our cell phones to it in areas that don’t have cell service. Service can be suspended when not in use. Hopefully a little competition will bring the prices down.
We have found Verizon to be the most reliable cell service all over the country. We rarely if ever use or depend on Wi-Fi from a paid resort or RV park. We download shows and movies onto our phones we also have a DVD player and about 50 DVDs that we have never had a cause to watch. We can stream to our TV using an Amazon Fire Stick even without Wi-Fi or cell coverage. I have found that this is preferable to having a Smart TV as the fire stick does a better job of streaming and connectivity. Unfortunately when we don’t have cell signal no ability to monitor weather or look up where we could travel to or stay next, however you either preplan or wait till you’re on the road and get reception.
Gary, I am interested in how your Amazon Fire Stick can stream without Wi-Fi or cell coverage. How does it connect to the internet?
Denny we stream content we have previously downloaded from Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube etc onto our phones. Turn on your TV and firestick, go to home or your profile pic then settings-display-mirror screen, select yes and then your mirror screen setting on your phone we have Samsung phones it’s at the top, drag down menu (twice) called Smart View. Regarding connection sometimes I have to back out of the mirror screen on firestick (back) and select it again in order for my phone to find it. So you don’t need Wi-Fi or cell phone reception to link your phone (screen mirror) to the firestick. Not sure if it works or not with an iPhone?
Our experiences with campground Wi-Fi was never what was expected, after many poor experiences we just use our phone hotspot. In almost all cases we could only use the Wi-Fi early in the morning before others started getting on. It was unusually bad during times when lots of children were in the park. Things may have improved over the years but I don’t even try anymore.
Thank you for the compilation and your own experience, Nanci! We used DirecTV via a satellite dish when we had RV #1. By the time we traded for RV #2 we had switched to DirecTV stream and opted for no satellite dish (the wiring is in place if we want a dish later). Eventually we switched to YouTube TV. We have a T-Mobile hotspot through FMCA and phones with both AT&T (DW) and Verizon (me), so we usually have enough coverage to stream programming. We never bother with campground WiFi. Have a great day and safe travels!